


A Few Steps Behind

by SkaterGirlFC



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2020-06-27 18:08:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19796236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkaterGirlFC/pseuds/SkaterGirlFC
Summary: A man finds himself awake to the start of roots and dirt in his face. He feels paper in his shirt, and something heavy on his body and not knowing what else to do, crawls out of the dirt. This is a story of Mollymauk waking up, reading the note the Mighty Nein left for him and his journey to discover who he was. And no matter how many times he is so close to catching up to them, he always falls a few steps behind. He will meet new friends and party members, rediscover his abilities and hopefully, eventually, find the Mighty Nein, and find out why and how he was connected to them.





	1. The Letter

Dear Mollymauk

I don’t even know if you will see this but if you do, know that your name is Mollymauk Tealeaf, and your friends call you Molly. We were your friends, till you...died. You were apart of the Mighty Nein, you were great. Please, if you read this, find us though The Gentleman, in Zadash. Go to the Evening Nip and say “I would like a drink, and although I don’t have any money, I’m willing to offer many gifts,” to the bar keeper. They will let you in. Inquire about the Mighty Nein. Until then.

I will avenge you,  
Caleb


	2. The Cold Night

I don’t remember crawling out of the ground to the hillside. I don’t remember taking the coat, only that I’m wearing it now. I don’t remember reading the letter for the first time, only that I keep reading it over and over again, trying to grasp the meaning. I only remember roots in my face, a hand, voices, and fear.

After what seemed like hours, although I couldn’t tell, I figured it was safe to get out. And after what seemed like more time the snow kicked in. After much more time I must have fallen asleep because I only remember waking up. A layer of snow about 7 inches think coated me and my coat and I brushed it off and stood up. It was freezing. There were two hills on either side of the road and I kept hoping someone would come by. Although why would they in this blizzard?

I wrapped myself in a tapestry I found with me and I couldn’t tell what it was meant to depict but I kept me warm and that’s all I needed

Maybe if I sat the right way a slight overhang in one of the hills could shelter me somewhat from the storm, but I am also afraid that incoming travelers might not be able to see me then. I’m hoping my bright coat and blanket thing will be enough to make anyone spot me. 

The snow did not seem to be lighting up anytime soon and the end of the day was approaching as the sky grew darker and I started to get worried as I hadn’t eaten anything all day. I was starting to dread the night as I didn't want to freeze to death. 

I saw a figure walking down the road. Small, far off, but there, and strangely I started to get excited.  _ Yes! I’m saved! _ I thought and began to get up and wave to the figure, shrugging the cold off. Cold? What cold? No, no colder because this person will take me somewhere warm!! The figure must have seen me waving and started to move faster towards me and I started frantically waving and heading down the hill and towards the figure. Just as they came into view they stopped and I kept walking towards them until I could see them clearly in the storm.

They were a female dwarf, she had a 5-o-clock shadow and a cigarette hanging loosely from her gaping mouth, unlit in the storm and I was surprised it hadn’t blown away. She had extremely beat-up armor and short, greasy, light brown hair. It wasn’t anything about her appearance that reminded me of the cold though, her expression sent chills down my spine. A gaping mouth and wide eyes like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Are you here to save me or what? Do you know someplace warm near here?” I loudly to her as to be heard over the storm and crossed my arms as to try to keep warm. 

She only stared and then after a bit quietly said, “Molly?”

“Who-oh….” I said confused and sad, “How did you know my name..?” I asked.

“We need to find a place to bed down for the night,” She said tearing her gaze from me. “We can use the overhang there and the camping stuff I have.” She said and marched passed me, though I could see on her face she was still very much shocked. I was confused why did she do all that, but she was the only other person out here and she was gonna set up somewhere safe. I followed her. 

After some time and some angry teaching, we had a tent set up in the side of the hill. If it wasn’t bad, and it looked like it would survive the night and as I was admiring our handiwork (mostly the dwarf girls doing, she never did say her name, though she did say mine a lot) the dwarf girl went inside. The snow was still going and I head in for the night too. Happy for the first time to not sleep in the snow. When I got in she was making a fire from whatever firewood she had found along the way, but much of it was wet from the snow. 

I sit down and start to warm up from the fire huddling my coat around me and taking my swords off. Wait, when did those get there? I don’t remember picking them up…

The girl butts into my thoughts saying, “How are you alive?!?! I watched you die!!!” frantically.

“I don’t even know who you are! How do you know who I am ...or who I’m supposed to be...or who I was...or I don’t even know! Are you The Mighty Nein?” I say just as frantically back to her who looks caught off guard by this. I can see the desperation in her eyes and she can probably hear the desperation in my voice. 

“I- no I’m not apart of the mighty nein...you should know this...do you…” She takes a moment to think, “ Do you not remember who you are?” She asks with this pleading look in her face that says  _ please, no _ . 

“I don’t know who you are, you never said your name and I only know mine because of this.” and I pull out the paper tucked in my coat. I don’t remember putting it there, or reading it, but I know what it says and take a moment to look over if before handing it to the dwarf girl. She takes a moment to read it and hands it back. 

“So you really know nothing...You know what Zadash is?” she says almost like she is quizzing me. 

“No..I don’t know what any of that means, and I still don’t know who you are!” I say in a huff.

“Oh, sorry...I’m Keg,” she says and looks down at the fire. “Zadash is a city. You want to head there?”

“Yeah, and find this “gentleman” person and find the mighty nein! Or at least find out who I was…” I say trailing off the last part. 

“Hm. Well ok. You know you were apart of the Mighty Nein, yes?” I nod “ They were an…” she struggles to find the words making meaningless gestures, “adventuring group. When I found you guys it was just you, Beau, Nott, and Caleb.” I recognize the name and sit up. “Some of your friends were taken by some people I ...used to work for. I think their names were Jester, Fjord, and Yasha?” She looks at me probably looking to see if I recognize any of the names. 

“I only know Caleb, only because that was what the letter was signed as.”

“Right...Anyway. You guys wanted to do a surprise attack on the group early in the morning as they were leaving camp. And you...you died at Lorenzos, my former boss, hand. Beau, Caleb, and Nott held a funeral for you. Then we headed back to the town where I grew up, Shady Creek Run and killed Lorenzo as vengeance for you and freed many of the prisoners there including Nilia’s son and Husband. Oh, Nilia was a Firbolg we met along the way and helped us get in. We should go and see her, she will have someplace warm for us to stay.”

“Great, how long is it from here?” 

“Probably 2-3 days,” she said and I cussed in my head. 3 more days of sleeping on the cold road. 

“Well, that's awhile ...I only hope we are not too far behind them.”

“We can't do anything in this snow, just go to sleep.” She said and started making a makeshift bed in the dirt and whatever snow hasn’t melted from the fire. “I can take watch, it’s fine.” 

“Ok” I say and try my best to find rest for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There won't be a consistent update schedule but I'll try to get out at least 2 chapters a month! Hope you like it so far!
> 
> (Edit: Update will be much slower than that probably. Or not depends on how obsessed with Molly at any given time)


	3. The Crispvale Thicket

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, sorry for not updating.......I still plan to write this and I swear It will be more consistent cus I actually know where the story is going now so, stay tuned, but don't take my word for it! I'll try to update more!

I wake up the next day to hear the sound of Keg outside the tent getting ready for the day. I didn’t realize how cold it was and as I sit up I wrap myself more in my coat. My memory is still fuzzy so It's hard to remember what happened, but once keg comes into the tent I remember what’s happening a bit better. She throws me another cloak and says,

“Here, there’s more snow out this morning, so this will help” and pulls another cloak around herself. “C’mon” I don’t question her and leave the tent. She was right, there is much more snow on the ground, it’s beautiful or it would be if it didn’t completely cover the road. I couldn’t even see it anymore. It had stopped snowing, but the wind was still picking up snow from the ground and blowing it around. It created a beautiful pattern and I caught myself staring at it. 

“It looks like waves.” Keg piped up.

“It looks like what?” I said and laughed a little.

“Right,” she paused and looked up at me, “C’mon we better go, it could get worse.” She started walking. I had no idea how she could tell which way to go or if it would get worse or not, but I followed. I didn’t want to be alone. 

We walked for a long time, till long after the sunset and it only got colder after dark. Sometimes Keg would pull out a piece of paper with weird drawings and writing on it. Every time I tried to get a good look she pulled it away so I just kept to myself. A few times we made turns. There was mostly field as far as I could see, but sometimes I could spot the gathering of trees. I had no sense of direction and I couldn’t even really tell where the road was, but I followed Keg.

As the night came and as I was huddled up in my coat and my cloak trying to keep warm as best I could when we spotted one of these tree clusters and set up the tent as best we could. I was much too tired to do much of anything and went inside and just fell straight asleep. 

The next morning I woke up before Keg as she was still asleep next to me. I got myself a bit more ready and went out front. I looked out into the snow-covered landscape my memory was pretty much a blur. I barely remember waking up. I read through the letter again, trying to recall something, anything, but nothing comes. I rummage through the other pockets in my coat and on a card. On it is the moon and it says so. It’s very pretty. I vaguely remember picking it up after I crawled out but that doesn’t do anything to help remember either. Eventually, Keg comes out and says we need to take down the tent and I help. 

“Stay alert. There could be things out there.” Keg said referring to the wild.

“What things?” I asked.

“Bad things.”

I rolled my eyes and started to walk. As we were walking today I pulled out my sword. I didn’t know how to use one so I just kinda swung it and kept it at my side.

“Do you even know how to use that anymore?” She joked and pointed to my sword as we were walking.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly.

“Hold on let me see it,” Keg says and I hand it over. “It doesn’t even look good. Like it was more for show. Is it even real?” She asks, more closely examining it. I almost speak up before she asks, “Do you know where you got it?” and looks to me. She must have remembered that I  _ don’t  _ remember anything and said, “Nevermind.” She gives me back the sword and I stow it away. No point in keeping it out if I don’t even know how to use it.

Throughout the day I kept asking different things. Keg mentioned that they were “petty” but they didn’t seem that way to me. Whats Zadash like? Who was “The Mighty Nein?” What does that mean? Why are you so short? Who’s Nila? What’s she like? Can you tell me everything that happened these past two days but slower? She got fed up pretty quickly.

“Will you stop that?” She snapped at me after asking how much further to Nila’s.

“What, the questions?” I asked confused and taken aback.

“Yes! They’re annoying and I don’t feel like explaining Exandria and the lives of everyone in it!” I flinch and shrug away.

“Fine then,” I said and stayed back a few feet and didn’t talk for the rest of the trip. As we were walking late in the day I started to see a bigger group of trees. I could tell the forest was very dense and Keg was making a bee-line straight towards it.

“Didn’t you say we have to look out for things?” I shout at her but receive no response as we walk into the woods.

The forest seems to go on and on and sometimes I lose Keg and panic till I can see her again. She urges me to keep up. I wonder if she really knows where she is going. The sun had set by now and the sky is turning black and we wander staying ever vigilant. I have my sword in my right hand at all times. Right when I’m pretty sure we are lost and think we should just sleep Keg speaks up. 

“There, in the trees, don’t you see the light?” I looked to where she was pointing and sure enough, there was a flickering light in between the trees. It was the only light around and the leaves on the trees blocked out most of the moonlight. I made eye contact with her and we made our way through the trees towards the light. At one point I heard her mumble, “This must be them.” We make our way through the brush and as we get closer we see...people? I start to smile, this must be where we are going! I start forward, but Keg holds me back, I look confused. She stares back at me with a cold glare and puts a finger over her mouth. I’m not quite sure what it means so I just stay there.

I get a better look at the people around the fire. There seemed to be 4 or 5 very tall people at the fire along with at least 6 children. There were more around the outside watching or doing their own business. There were shacks made of dead wood, vines, leaves and whatever you could find in this forest to build a home out of. The people themselves seemed to have fur, long ears, and a weird wide nose. I’d never seen anything like it. Keg stood up a little taller and motioned down, I didn’t get what she met and I didn’t really want to listen to her anyway. She rolled her eyes and knocked on a nearby tree. One of the people closest to us looked and saw us in the shadows. They were clearly taken aback and frightened a bit, so I waved a smiled a bit to ease the tension. The person whistled and the people in the center turned to look, along with most everyone else. The children look confused and start to talk to who I assume to be their parents. 

One woman comes out from the center circle and says, “Keg! I’m so glad you could come to visit and…” She trails off at seeing me. I step forward so she might be able to see me better. Her mouth is agape, eyes wide with shock. “You…”

“I know.” Keg says quickly and walks forwards, “I know. And yet I don’t know. I-I can’t explain, and he’s no help!” Keg starts to shout and the woman says, 

“That’s enough now.” And motions for Keg to shut it she still looks angry and confused but stays quiet. “Come forward a bit more, please.” I do sheepishly, I feel awkward here. She walks closer, and only now I realize she is towering over me. I can only imagine what Keg feels like. “I thought you died. They held a funeral for you and everything…” She trails off again.

“Seems like everyone thought I was dead, and I might have been, I’m not sure. I do have this though,” and I pull out the note. She reads it through and hands it back to me. 

“He doesn’t remember a single thing,” Keg states.

“You don’t?” She asks back more concerned. “So you don’t remember any of your friends? Caleb, Beau, and Nott, I think? There were others you were trying to save but I don’t remember their names though 1 might a been a trifling like yourself. Oh, I can only imagine how they reacted to learning you were gone! But you are here now.” She says and looks even more downfall than before.

“I don’t know any of the people you speak of, I’m sorry. I think Caleb was the one who wrote the letter?”

“Yes...Why don’t you sit down I’ll get you something to drink. I think we still have some dinner left, right?” she asks and the rest start says things like yeah, sure and I’ll get you some” and I sat down. 

Throughout the night I was kept in comfort and warmth by the fire and by company. I learned the woman I talked to was Nila and she happily recounted what she knew of the adventure she had with the Nein.

“And I brought my baby home.” She said and smiled down at a small boy. He was hiding a bit like he was shy.

“No need to be worried, I’m a friend,” I said softly to him, “What’s your name?”

“Asor,” He said sheepishly and came closer looking up at me. With wide eyes looking up at me he said, “Your purple.”

“That I am,” I said without even thinking of it. I look down at my hand and my skin and sure enough. It doesn’t seem weird though. He giggles and points at my very colorful coat.

“It has a lot of colors and is really pretty.” He says smiling and takes a bit in his hand to more closely examine the patterns. I just smile and say,

“It does have a lot of colors.” I’m not quite sure if I even like the coat, but I have it and its cold. I laugh and play with him for a while, the whole thing is nice. Keg stays back but eventually, some kids come up to her and she sits with us. Nila mostly talks about how things are going and Keg catches up from when they’ve seen each other last. And eventually, Nila shows me a place where I can sleep for the night. 

And as the night takes me I can’t help but think over what Nila said what happened on their journey. The Mighty Nein sound so cool. I wonder if I was like that as well.


End file.
